According to fitness experts, there are some health benefits of walking backwards
When we think about walking backwards, we usually assume it is something only children’s do. But it turns out that many adults could also benefit from taking a walk in the opposite direction. According to research, walking backwards might even be healthier than walking forward.
Walking backwards
Anyone who has tried to do it, will know. When you walk backward, it is way harder than walking forward. This means that you won’t be able to do it on autopilot. Katie Kollath, a personal trainer and co-founder of Barpath Fitness in Golden, Colorado, told EatingWell: “Walking—and doing other motions—backward can be a way to add some locomotion to your training. It can be a new mental and physical challenge if you’ve never tried it before.” Erin Nitschke, a certified personal trainer, ACE health coach, fitness nutrition specialist, therapeutic exercise specialist and health and human performance college professor in Sheridan, Wyoming, explains to Eating Well: “…the body has to work harder than if you were walking naturally.”
Benefits
Some of the benefits that might come with walking backward are:
- Strengthening muscles
- Better metabolism
- Better balance and coordination
- Challenges your brain and sharpens it
- Less force on your knees
That is why Nitschke recommends that everybody spends a few minutes walking backwards during warmup and cooldown. If you feel like you have backward walking under control, try some other forms of backward movement, like shuffling, a reverse bear crawl. Kollath explains: “Moving in different directions—laterally, backward and diagonal—and in different planes is important in all of our fitness routines throughout life.”
Are you walking backward, yet?
